1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an X-ray tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an X-ray tube, electrons emitted from a heating filament are accelerated by high voltage applied between a cathode and anode within a tube in high vacuum and collide with an anode target surface opposing the cathode, generating X-rays. X-ray tubes include such medical uses as CT scanning and such industrial uses as nondestructive inspections and thickness measurements.
Conventionally, X-ray tubes have been manufactured by brazing cathode pins and an exhaust bulb to the bottom plate of the stem, where the cathode pins are used to supply electric current to the electron emitting coil and the exhaust bulb is used to exhaust gas from the bulb. Then, the focusing electrode, bulb, and output window containing the target are brazed to the stem by interposing brazing material between the components, fixing the components together with jigs, and heating the entire assembly to the brazing temperature of the brazing material.
However, with this manufacturing method, all the components that form the X-ray tube must be fixed with jigs to perform the brazing process. Therefore, it not only is difficult to fix each of the components simultaneously, but also is difficult to maintain the positions of each component accurately.